IN HAND VIDEO: Techart Leica M Auto Focus adapter for Sony E Mount (A7 Series)
Good morning and happy Monday to all! Yesterday I posted a video to my YouTube channel showing off the TECHART Leica M AF Adapter for Sony E mount and yes, it works and works pretty well. See the video below where I tested the adapter with the 40 2.4 Summarit which was converted from a Minilux to an M housing and mount. I also tested the adapter with a 50 Jupiter 3+ and 50 Summilux and it nails the focus every time. In the video below I show off the adapter and take some shots to show you how fast it will AF outdoors. Review soon, with many more thoughts on using it in different scenarios. So far, so good! You can pre-order the adapter HERE if you so desire, $349.
First Look at the Techart Adapter
Steve, could you please comment on the built quality in term of tilting while movin in and out? I wonder how the movement of such a short length of the guideway can happen without tilting?
I’ve searched quite a bit and not seen any comments regarding using this adapter for VIDEO?
Can you comment please Steve?
Nickolas
About adapting other lenses (R, C/Y, etc.): Do you have to use TechArt’s own coupler/adapter with the autofocus adapter, or will any other one (Novaflex, Metabones, etc.) do?
Thx for info!
The converted Summarit looks really good. Are you going to review it? It is an affordable option in acquiring Leica DNA with 10 blades no less!
Just preordered one I heard it is compatible with a6300 ordered the Adaptor for Exacta To Leica M also found a M42 to Leica M Adaptor on eBay going to try A bunch of old lenses such as Meyer Trioplan 50,100,100n,Zenitar ME,Some vintage Zeiss and Jupiter Lenses I have in M42. Should be fun but I wish it was compatible with A7 and A7S. Maybe one day I’ll get a Used A7RII when prices become way more affordable.
A couple of questions. Will the Techart LM-EA7 work with the Sony A6000 series? How does stopping down the lens to a small aperture (e.g., f16) affect the performance of the unit?
Why would you stop it down to f/16? That is the question. NO Leica lens sold ever be used at f/16. 😉
Will this techart adapter work on a Sony a7r
Very cool.
At first I was wondering how’d they accomplish AF with manual Leica M lenses.. normally, you control focusing externally with focusing ring and that controls focusing internally in the rangefinders.. I couldn’t imagine how mechanically it could work in reverse.. sounds like it would likely damage the very expensive lens.
But, I get it now.. it physically moves the lens in and out to adjust the focusing of the M lenses, alternatively.
From what the video shows and states, it does not matter where the lens is actually set to focus to, it will still work.. did I understand this correctly? The lens could be focused at close minimal focus distance or far out to infinity and it will still correctly autofocus?
Essentially, the focusing ring on the lens is dead?
OR, after you’ve acquired AF with the adapter, you can still fine tune the focus with the lens’s focusing ring?
Just trying to understand some of the details of how it would work.
Thanks.
I wonder how this will work on the a7,a7s,a6300,a6000.
Hopefully Sony will do the safe ware update for the A7s and older model for the adaptor to work on them also!
Hi Steve,
It looks great and I’ve seen a few vids of this now. One thing I’ve never heard anyone explain is, what do you set the manual part of the focus at before you start trying to AF, does it matter or does it work better at one end or the other? Also is performance affected if the lens is stopped down.
Thanks
Jim
PS Looks like you are using the DJI Osmo to good effect there 🙂
As stated, set it to infinity. No OSMO, that ended up being junk. See my gimbal reviews here from 1-2 weeks ago to see what I am using. Thanks!
I think it’s a good idea, as some people like to, or sometimes need to, shoot one-handed. I wonder what is the heaviest a lens can be? I suspect that mounting the 135/2.8 would be out of the question. 😉
BTW I really don’t think you need an intro to your videos. But if you are going to keep it, can you get rid of – or at least turn down – the rather annoying music? Intros are just things to skip through, so why have them? Anyway, just IMHO.
Most of the Leica lenses below 50mm are awful on the a7r body, the 28mm f2.8 is worse than dire, anything below f4 on the 35mm f1.4 is all but unusable.
Ergo: it’s Fools Gold – forget Leica lenses on the Sony.
Actually the Minolta M-Rokkor 28/2.8 I own is really sharp on the original A7r, straight from f/2.8 and even at the corners.
It is the sharpest 24/28mm in my “stable”, the others being the old Minolta MC 24/2.8 (55mm filter ring), the Olympus 24/2.8 and the Contax 28-85 (that’s the second sharpest, and it is sharper than Contax own fixed 28/2.8 already).
From what other people found it should be sharper (in general, not specifically on the A7r) than the Leica M Elmarit mk II, so not exactly latest aspherical tech but not shabby either.
I find that very hard to take except with a large spoon of salt. The might not be as good on the Sony as on the M (they were designed for, surprise!) but to say they don’t work or are horrendous is very odd. I’ve used several, especially the 16,18,21mm WATE on both A7ii and A7Rii and they are fine. Distortion and CA is not that noticeable and easily corrected in Lightroom.
M lenses are a wonderful resource for Sony users, your information is so OTT that it could put people off of using things they might really enjoy and benefit from.
@David: Your evidence is skewed , because the MATE and WATE are retrofocus lenses that don’t reach far back toward the sensor which makes them every bit as usable on A series bodies as any other retrofocus DSLR lens. While the point might have been overstated a bit above, most M lenses below 50mm, and some or most 50s, cannot be used unless stopped down considerably because they present color-tinted vignetting and smearing at the corners.
I’m one of the early A series adapters who believed the early rumors that here was a body to mount all M lenses. I was quite disappointed when I tested quite a few Leica/Zeiss/CV lenses through 50mm and found that except for the MATE and WATE (which I use a lot on Sony), almost all had corner problems. The shortest Leica lens that covers the corners properly at largest aperture is the 40mm Summicron.
Kirk
This issue is not seen on the A7SII or A7RII. These lenses no longer have the magenta sides. I use 15mm M mount on my A7RII without any issue. Same thing with 35, 50, etc.
Hi Steve, glad you have it “in hand”. Can you please let us know two things:
– can the attached lenses still be used “manually”, i.e., do we have to engage autofocus, or can we still set the lens to a distance and “zone focus” accurately while it is on the Teacart?
– are you using the “app” and bluetooth….how does that work?
Many thanks. I really want to hear your full review before I purchase!
You can manually focus, no problem. App? No idea what you are talking about. No app needed for this as far as I know.
Thanks, Steve, and saw your latest review…answers some of my questions. The App is all over their website! That’s why the adaptor has Bluetooth to communicate to a smartphone. They state on their website that while it is not necessary to have the app in order to use the adaptor (as you already have seen), it will be for firmware updates, and somehow to communicate EXIF data. Check out the Techart site…especially the Q&A section.
So does the DOF scale still work accurately in case I want to manually focus? Thanks.
Still, I have no interest in using an app for any of my cameras..for shooting. Firmware, yes. For shooting? No. Just not my thing. You can manually focus the M lens just as you would any other M lens. BUT if you set your distance scale first, it will move when you press the shutter as it will try to AF. So you would have to press the shutter half way, hold it down, set your lens and shoot. NOT a good way to shoot. If you want manual focus, I would not suggest the adapter as its a master of one task, AF.
Having the option of AF for one’s Leica lenses seems great indeed. However let’s not forget current A7 cameras, as other hybrid cameras apart from the GXR with its M module, give sub-optimal results in the corners with most M lenses. They’re just not designed for challenging RF lenses. Fair enough but worth keeping in mind before spending one’s hard earned cash.
Additionally, corners performances and colour shifts seem to be very sensitive to mount alignment, traditionally a weak point of adopters. I’d be curious to see how this one performs given the moving parts.
Any chance they will make an adapter for the Leica SL? Now that would really be something as the the Leica lenses would match the SL better than on the Sony.
Even many would say that M-mount lenses are designed for manual focus and that’s how they souold be used, I think having the option is incredible and I hope other “dead” manul focus mounts (MD, FD) will get the same treatment.
You can adapt most lenses to use this adapter as most will adapt to M mount.
Yes, I’ve ordered a C/Y to M adapter so I can stack it on the Techart and autofocus those great Zeiss vintage SLR lenses. You basically get a universal AF system for MF lenses.
Yes indeed. This is actually why I wish more of the MF lens brands would produce lenses in M mount – It is kind of a great universal mount for mirrorless, so you can adapt them to whatever.
will it fit if you have a J.B. camera wood camera grip on your a7r II?
only works for new generation A7ii and A7rii, not for A7s and older model??
Thanks! Having Leica, Jupiter and Contax glass with af will be awesome, and that’s an understatement.
It would be nice to know how well – or not – it works on the original A7 and especially A7r.
The manufacturer is stating that it will guarantee the accuracy only on the mk II models, but I’m hoping that’s just because they don’t have the resources or the economic incentive to test the adapter even on the older models…
Interesting.
Couple of points:
You are not snapping the lens and the lens adaptor onto the body, you are twisting and locking, not snapping.
I spent a couple of minutes anxiously wanting someone to put a body-cap on the Sony body once you’d removed the lens, or at least cover the sensor with something / anything!
In days-gone-by, one would keep your powder dry, now it’s evolved into covering the sensor as quickly as possible either with a replacement lens, a body-cap (?) or at least something to stop the sensor getting dust etc on it. The Sony is pretty good, truth be known; the Leica M240 is horrendous for attracting crud though.
Ive left my sensors exposed for days at a time, not a practice I would ever recommend, but never caused me one issue. I am a chill guy, so I do not stress over little things in life. It’s not going to kill your camera to have the sensor exposed for a bit. Again, not recommended as anything COULD Happen but not a big deal for what I did here. And the adapter does indeed “snap” when twisted on. You hear the snap, thats how you know its on.